The Unceasing Growth And Development Of Financial Technology

Whether its shopping for new clothes, buying a meal or coffee at your local café, or taking out a loan on lending platforms like www.xn--forbruksln-95a.com/, financial technology or popularly known as fintech is now universally used.

Fintech has been utilized and applied onto numerous of the latest developments in technology such as payment applications or gateways, lending platforms as well as digital currency.

Merging the newest developments in tech with financial applications and services, fintech has aided and assisted many companies and businesses to provide and deliver financial services that are better and more reliable to consumers and other businesses and companies as well.

What is Fintech?

A portmanteau of the words financial and technology, fintech is utilized to describe an industry incorporating and embracing the use of any form of technology for financial services or management, including applications for mobile payment, peer-to-peer platforms, insurance and investment as well as cryptocurrency to name some.

Fintech, in general, refers to any business or company making use of the internet, computer, mobile or other electronic devices, cloud or software technology to connect and carry out any financial services. Numerous products on fintech are intended to connect the finances of consumers with technology for convenience and ease of use and access, though the word is applied to technologies in the B2B sector as well.

Initially described as technology used in the back-end systems of financial institutions like banks, fintech are now more focused on the consumer. At present, because of the developments in fintech, managing finances, trading in stocks, paying for commodities via this technology is now possible.   

As per data from 2016, individuals utilize one to three applications to manage their funds. And as per CNBC, in 2017 alone, investments on fintech shoot up to 18%.

Fintech also cater to the estimated 2 billion individuals without bank accounts globally by providing a smart alternative to take part in financial services that don’t need any brick-and-mortar. Through technology that is user-friendly, fintech then allows consumers to access directly their financial lives.

How is Fintech Used?

So how is fintech used? Here are few examples:

Platforms for Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding platforms permit users to either receive or send money to others. Moreover, these crowdfunding have given businesses as well as individuals to pool finance from a multiplicity of sources in the same platform. Rather than taking out a loan from a bank the traditional way, it is nowadays possible to directly reach out to investors for funding of a project or venture.

Mobile Payments

This generally refers to payment services done over a smartphone or mobile device and works under financial regulation. As an alternative to cash, credit cards or cheque, consumers could now make use of technologies on mobile payments to pay for an extensive array of services as well as commodities.

Budgeting Applications

In 2019, the most widely used fintech technology that consumers use is budgeting apps wherein over the years has exponentially increased in popularity. There was a time when consumers had to make their own outline and template to manage and keep track of their finance. With fintech developing tools and apps for budgeting, with fintech, consumers could now effortlessly as well as efficiently manage and monitor their income, expenses and savings.  

The Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform

Peer-to-peer or P2P lending is the wonder of online lending created by platforms wherein borrowers are directly matched with lenders, such as the envestio review. It is quickly getting traction as well as expanding to more categories of new products since it grants a better experience. Moreover, it forwards the advantages of making use of technology to both borrowers and moneylenders.

Peer-to-peer lending has come to be a sector where the growth increase is quick and where billions are annually generated in loans.

P2P Lending Platforms

A platform for P2P lending that is successful has a good foundation, is flexible as well as an efficient technology that would surpass the expectations of both the borrower and the lender.

Typically, with regards to borrowing and lending money, the process involves a credit union or a banking institution; however the rising popularity of platforms for P2P lending is seeing several individuals do away with these traditional financers from the borrowing and lending process altogether.

Because of the advancements in technology, it made connecting through online platforms simpler and easier for businesses and/or individuals who are considering directly borrowing or lending money with one another.

P2P lending is an alternate for the traditional financing processes. Since it matches up individuals who or businesses that are considering borrowing or lending, it enables them to make arrangements directly between each other.

Platforms and/or websites offer a service that is intermediary wherein it does the matching between the borrowers and the lenders and borrowers. They also carry out relevant and reasonable steps for risk assessments as well as credit checks. Usually in these platforms, a certain fee is charged for the services they have rendered, which isn’t part of the final lending arrangement.

Pluses of P2P Lending Platforms

  • Numerous lenders are drawn towards peer-to-peer solutions because of the possibility for their investment to have a high rate of return. Typically, the estimated yearly rates could reach up to 6% (or even higher) in packages that are performing better.  This potential becomes more attractive as compared to the rates that are normally offered by bigger banks with standard savings accounts.
  • On the other hand, lower interest rates are likely to be obtained for those looking into borrowing money via P2P lending platforms than traditional loans depending on the credit history of the borrower and risk factors.
  • Peer-to-peer platforms and solutions for borrowers and lenders are billed as something more responsive, transparent and efficient to manage as compared to banks, since they are unfettered by the bureaucracy as well as ageing technology that is the stamp of numerous institutions that are bigger.

Understanding the Essence of the Cash Flow Statement as Part of Financial Reports

Preparing a Cash Flow Statement has become an integral part of the financial reporting system. Aside from presenting reports on how much a business entity earned as Net Income and of its Net Worth for a given period, it has been mandatory since 1987, to provide information by way of a Cash Flow Statement on how business funds were obtained and used rationally.

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Business owners therefore must require periodic submission of an Income and Expense Statement, a Balance Sheet and a Cash Flow Statement. That way, the summarized results of business operations and administration are available for periodic review and analysis, in order to determine impact, progress, and for pinpointing areas that need improvement.

Components of a Cash Flow Statement

Simply stated, a Cash Flow Statement (CFS) presents a summary of how much funds entered the business, and of how much of those funds were used during the period.

The CFS is structured in a way that will reflect how the end-of-period Cash and Cash Equivalents reconcile with the Net Income after all funds generated and disbursed for Operational Activities, Investing Activities and Financing Activities, and other non-cash elements have been taken into account.

Cash Equivalents by the way refer to short term investments held by a business, as they can be easily sold and converted into cash at any given time.

Cash Flow Coming from Operational Activities

In this section, the CFS presents the total revenues earned by the business entity throughout a period, purely derived from operating the business, whilst mainly using the entity’s assets. In addition, this section also shows how much of the revenues generated were used in paying off related operational and administrative costs for the same period.

Non-cash values such as depreciation, accruals and unearned portion of revenues occuring during the period of operation will likewise be presented in this section, but as reconciling items.

Cash Flow from Investment Activities

Investment earnings pertain to funds generated thru non-operational activities but still involving the assets of the business; such as selling of long-term assets like property and equipment, as well as earnings collected from maturing investment ventures like marketable securities and other cash equivalents.

In the same way, any amount used in purchasing property and equipment, including software, and/or placed as investment in marketable securities shall be reflected under this section.

Cash Flow from Financing Activities

Financing funds increase the size and composition of the business capital or equity, like those obtained from borrowings including funds acquired by way of bonds, or from issuances of additional shares of stocks.

On the other hand, other factors may change the composition of the business capital, like repayment of borrowings including interests, and/or payment of dividends.